Princess Passage
by swanpride
Summary: Living in Happily Ever After is a strange experience, and a new rule makes everything even more interesting.  Mainly about the Disney Princesses and their Princes .
1. Jasmine

**Jasmine**

They were flying at a moderate speed, appreciating the fireworks above them. There was no hurry; they had their whole life to explore the world. And they would do it together. Carpet took them steady south, and it didn't take long before the desert before him changed into what looked in the darkness like never-ending woods. Jasmine was impressed. She had never seen so many trees in one place.

"We should rest here," she suggested. "Wait until the sun rises and then search for a good place to land."

Aladdin readily agreed. Snuggled close to each other, they soon felt in a light slumber, trusting Carpet to keep them safe.

When she woke up, Aladdin was already studying the map he had bought from a street vendor. The one who sounded suspiciously like Genie (the only reason they had followed his advice to take the map).

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. This doesn't seem right to me. Maybe I'm reading it wrong." Aladdin sounded frustrated. His reading skills were weak at best, but Jasmine didn't mind. Considering his upbringing, it spoke for his intelligence that he could read at all. He would surely catch up soon.

"Let's see!" she said and he wordlessly gave her the map. She immediately saw what the problem was. "The map of Happily Ever After? This has to be a joke." They hadn't bothered to look too closely beforehand, being busy with the preparation for the wedding and Jasmine's birthday party.

"I know – but it looks correct. See, there are the woods."

True, according the map, Agrabah's desert was bordering in the west and south on a big forest that contained a lot of castles. In fact, she could see one of those castles.

"Let's fly east," she suggested. In the east were the Literate Lands, which contained more recognizable landmarks. She certainly didn't plan to travel west, where Villain Valley supposedly was.

The map turned out to be right, but they didn't find any place to land at first. Every place under them seemed to be off-limits, to their disappointment. It was like an invisible wall prevented them from flying lower.

"What now?" Aladdin asked while they were watching some alley cats dancing and singing on the rooftops of a town called Paris.

Jasmine studied the map again. "Agrabah is marked green, but all the countries we flew over are marked yellow. Villain Valley is marked red. The only spot also marked green is there." She pointed at a city named Toontown far in the south bordering on a grey area called "Elsewhere".

"Should we fly back to Agrabah first?" Aladdin asked. "You're probably hungry."

"Carpet is fast." Jasmine wasn't ready to turn up at home so soon again. Aladdin had promised her a whole new world, and she wanted to experience it.

Luckily, Toontown was a success. And quite an overwhelming experience. Talking animals, strange looking humans, and a lot of other things they had never seen before in their life. Some people were quite sinister looking, but a friendly old lady with a yellow canary on her shoulder, readily pointed them to a place where they could eat something. "There is also an ATM in front of it, in case that you need to exchange money. Most businesses here take only Toon Tokens or Disney Dollars."

It was easy to figure out the devise. Just as Aladdin retrieved the money, the sound of a horn prompted Jasmine to turn around. "Look out!" She pulled Aladdin out of the way of the horseless vehicle that had decided to take a detour over the sidewalk, to slide into a parking space. A suit-wearing toad was jumping out of it.

"Are you crazy?" Jasmine asked.

"Sorry folks, but good parking spaces are a rare commodity in this part of Toontown. I'll make it up to you. Join me for lunch?"

Jasmine was too enraged to agree, but Aladdin was faster than her.

"Why not." Following the toad he explained Jasmine under his breath "he can certainly answer some questions about this strange place".

They sat down at table near the window. A waiter who looked more like a butler came to take their order. They followed their host's advice and chose _magret __de __canard_, while he went for the _escargot_.

The toad, who introduced himself fittingly as Mr. Toad, turned out to be very talkative indeed, especially after he realized who they were.

"Splendid! It's so rare nowadays to meet some of your folks."

"Our folks?"

"You know other Disney characters. In the old times, they all used to visit Toontown regularly. But by now, only the Duckburg Toons turn up from time to time. The others keep in their own zone, especially the human ones."

"And why is that?"

"Too much crime, too many villains who do what they want unchecked. They don't feel safe. The Powers That Be added a new police station and sent new characters on patrol, but Bonkers can only do so much. Plus, a lot of them think that some of the Toons from Elsewhere are too brutal and loopy."

Watching a small man with a red beard chasing a bunny down the street with a rifle, Jasmine understood where they were coming from.

"But you don't care?" Aladdin asked.

"I was always more of the adventurous kind. And all the streets here end up in Toontown. You can't drive anywhere else. And you can't land anywhere else with your plane."

"Plane?"

"Flying vehicle. But I see you are using a more traditional method of transportation. Nice carpet."

Carpet was preening under the attention.

"So there is nowhere else to go?"

"Not really. Elsewhere is off-limits and I wouldn't recommend even flying over Villain Valley. Nasty place. Just ask Edgar over there." Mr. Toad made a vague motion towards the waiter.

"He doesn't look like the adventurous type." Aladdin said puzzled.

"Oh, he isn't, but he _is_ a Disney villain, albeit a very pathetic one."

"Him?"

Jasmine eyed the man, who was now nearing with their food, with suspicion. But she waited until he was finished with serving them and way out of hearing range before she asked her next question.

"What did he do?"

"Poisoned the food of a bunch of kitties."

Aladdin spat the bite he had taken from his meal back on his plate.

"Don't worry he just used a sleeping drug. He doesn't have it in him to kill someone. That's why he is hanging around in Toontown. He is more or less banished from Paris, and the Villains in Villain Valley don't give him the time of the day. They are kind of ashamed of him – as much as true Villains can feel shame."

Mr. Toad dug into his escargot with visible gusto, and Jasmine and Aladdin finally followed his example. The taste was so different from Jasmine's usual meals, this alone made her day. Mr. Toad kept entertaining them with interesting (and outrageous) stories, explaining to them some of the things they could see through the window (apparently the horseless vehicles were called cars). Suddenly, he stopped in the middle of a sentence. "I have to go now! See you around." Before any of them could react, he vanished through the backdoor.

Seconds later the front door opened and a rat and a mole, clothed in a similar style to the toad were entering. "Has anybody seen a toad?" the rat asked in a very slow and nasal manner. The black duck who had entered five minutes earlier, taking place at the table beside them answered with a prominent lisp: "Some small fellow just went through the backdoor."

"Come, Mole!" The rat said and followed the toad, his friend close behind him.

"Shouldn't we help him?" asked Jasmine.

"I'm sure he can look out for himself. After all, he just invited us to a meal we have to pay for now." He looked over to the waiter, who was busy calming down the black duck, who had discovered the _magret __de __canard _on the menu. "As soon as the waiter is available again."

* * *

><p>Over the next years, Happily Ever After was slowly changing. Literary Land got a steppe and a jungle. Paris grew and had now an impressive cathedral. Close to the mountains in front of Villain Valley was now "Legendary China" and at the shore grew new cliffs to become the home of native Indians and a group of settlers. But it depressed Jasmine that she could see all that only from afar. They visited Toontown a couple of times, but it soon got old. The same toons, the same streets. Genie came back at one point, but even with his powers couldn't do anything about it.<p>

But then her next birthday came – or the same one occurred again. In the timeless state they lived, there wasn't much point in counting the years, but her father and Aladdin thought that they should celebrate her birth nevertheless. Her best present was a scroll. With disbelief she read the text.

"As member of the Disney Princess Club, you've been granted Princess Passage to the world of every Club Member."

Jasmine was dumbfounded. "I don't understand…"

"That means that our travel radius just expanded. Seven other princesses, seven worlds we are allowed to visit."

"But how…?"

"I applied to The Powers That Be," the sultan explained, as if this was the easiest and most logical thing of the world. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic! That has to be the best present ever! When can we fly?"

* * *

><p><em>AN: In case you are wondering, Aladdin and Jasmine are eating grilled duck breast and Mr. Toad snails. _

_So that's the start - lots of thanks to iki_teru who acted as my Beta for this one, and to canadianscanget, too. This is a WIP, but it's more a "World in Progress" than a "Work in Progress". I don't intend to end the chapters on evil cliffhangers, it's more a collections of small adventures the princesses and their princes have in "Happily Ever After". It's inspired by "Meeting the others", which I adore, but I intend to do a more serious take on the idea and explore the characters of the princesses and the princes. I'll will ignore all the sequels, prequels, midquels and TV-shows._


	2. Belle

**Belle**

Belle loved living in Happily Ever After. Her father sometimes ventured to Toontown to find inspirations for new inventions, but she wasn't really interested. She preferred to spend her evenings in the library and read about the fellow inhabitants of Happily Ever After. In the castle in the woods she had found a place where people understood her. Plus, Adam tended to change back into his beast form upon entering Toontown.

Nevertheless, when she was granted Princess Passage, she became excited. From now on when she was riding into the woods, she wouldn't end up where she started but perhaps at a different castle, a prospect she discussed with Adam during breakfast.

"I'm not sure if that is a good idea," he said. "We don't know those people."

"I've read about them," she challenged him.

"That's not the same."

Belle knew that Adam would never keep her from going wherever she wanted, but she would have preferred him being more comfortable about the notion. Before they could discuss the matter further, Cogsworth interrupted them.

"Two guests have arrived. They introduced themselves as Prince Aladdin and Princess Jasmine from Agrabah."

"Well, that's what I call coming right on cue. Madam Potts, two additional plates, please. Cogsworth…"

Cogsworth bowed. "I will lead them here immediately."

"I should rethink the order of being welcoming to every guest," Adam groused.

"Oh, don't be that way. Now you can meet them personally."

"Wasn't Aladdin the thief?"

"I'm sure he grew out of the habit, now that he isn't close to starving any longer."

Belle had to admit to herself that she was apprehensive, too. Aladdin and Jasmine came from a land very different from their own. Then she reminded herself that for them the castle might be just as foreign.

Nevertheless it was a little bit difficult not to stare at their odd clothes, Adam seemed to be slightly disturbed that Jasmine showed off her midriff so freely, but she managed to get them all seated at the breakfast table in a cheerful atmosphere.

"I'm sorry for the early disturbance," Jasmine said. "Put we couldn't wait to explore a little bit. It's nice to finally meet some new people again."

"We don't mind at all," assured Belle. "It was a good idea to visit us. I always wanted to meet some of the other Disney heroes and heroines."

"We have never seen you in Toontown," Aladdin frowned.

"Toontown doesn't really agree with us," Belle explained. "I take it, you visit it often?"

"We like to explore. But we have never met another princess or prince there. Or a lot of other Disney characters in general."

"I guess we tend to exclude ourselves too much. But Toontown is such a confusing and dangerous place. It will be nice to visit some peaceful kingdoms instead."

"We are very curious about all of them." Jasmine explained. "We chose this one first because it has such an interesting name: Beast's Castle. Is there really a beast?"

Belle was momentarily at a loss what to say. Adam shifted uncomfortable in his seat.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jasmine said hastily. "I didn't want to pry."

Belle cleared her throat. "It's a long story. But didn't you read it already?"

"Read it?" Jasmine asked confused. "Where?"

"I discovered books filled with stories about all the Disney characters in our library." Belle explained. "You have nothing like that?"

"No – we just have this map."

Jasmine showed them a piece of parchment.

"Wow, that's handy. Let's see…Oh…I'm sorry, I can't read this. Are those Arabian Letters?"

"Yes. Here, this is your castle. And this means Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Coast Castle, Golden Castle and Cinderella's Castle," Jasmine translated.

"Sleeping Beauty's Castle is Aurora's and Prince Philips home," explained Belle. "Ariel and Eric surely live at the castle by the coast. Which leaves the Golden Palace near the mountains for Snow White and her prince since Cinderella's castle is naturally the home of Cinderella and Prince Charming."

"Prince Charming?" Aladdin was amused. "Doesn't he have a real name?"

"He doesn't," Adam said drily. "The Powers That Be tend to forget to name us. Or to make our names public. You're lucky, believe me."

"Mulan should live in Legendary China," Belle said before Adam could talk himself into a rage. He hadn't been happy that he had to go by "Beast" for so long. "Can you believe it that she single handed rescued a whole country? And Pocahontas lives in Legendary Virginia."

"That's here and here," Jasmine pointed out one country at the mountains and one at the coast." I always wanted to visit there; it looks interesting from the air. The area is very rural."

"I can imagine. But I'm not sure if the natives would be very welcoming to you. They already have a strained situation with the English settlers in the fort. It might be better to invite her first. In fact that's a great idea!" Belle said.

"What?" Adam looked up slightly alarmed. He wasn't exactly the spontaneous kind.

"We invite all the people who got Princess Passage. This way we can get to know each other better."

Jasmine was immediately all for this plan. "I can ask Genie to deliver the invitations for us. He can use his magic to deliver them to the right place."

"I'll write them. But what about Mulan? I'm sure she can read neither mine nor your writing."

"I'm sure, the Genie knows a solution. Maybe even the right letters, he has been everywhere."

Belle and Jasmine had quite a pleasant morning, but Adam and Aladdin didn't hit off immediately. While Cogsworth took their guest on a tour through the castle (most likely boring them to death with architectural details), Adam explained it to her. "We don't really have much in common. I was spoiled my whole life, and he grew up in poverty."

"Do you dislike him? I'm sure we can find an excuse to cancel the party if you want."

"No, it's okay. He is a nice guy, and his stories are very entertaining. He isn't exactly the patient type, though, we should not wait too long until we rescue them from Cogsworth."

* * *

><p>The next days, Belle was busy with the preparation for the feast. But not so busy that she missed that Adam was actually unsure about the idea. Luckily Lumiere was so excited about the prospect to have guests, his enthusiasm swept everyone into the right mood rather quickly, even Adam. He became so relaxed that Belle made some adjustment to the seating arrangements, making sure that he would sit between Aurora and Cinderella during dinner. She had noticed that he had developed a slight phobia towards magic; it might help him to speak with two people who had more positive experiences with it.<p>

Originally she had thought about giving a full-fledged ball, but then she had decided to keep it simpler, to Lumiere's great disappointment. Jasmine had liked the plan, too, having never attended this kind of feast herself. But Belle wasn't sure if that was a good idea. They were supposed to get to know each other, so everyone should be as comfortable as possible. There would be time for a ball later on, she hoped.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I hope you all like my take on the relationship between Bella and Adam. I used the name because it is semi-official, and I certainly don't want to call him "Beast" all the time. And in case someone is wondering: No, the other princesses don't have a big library or any other source to learn about each other. But some of them have other benefits. Again, thanks to my Betas for sicking with me. _


End file.
